The Generous Hearted Church

The Generous Church (2 Corinthians 8:7-15)

Rob Tennant, HillSong Church, Chapel Hill, NC

Sunday, June 28, 2015

            A Christian who lives in Carrboro, NC reads his paper and finds himself horrified by the actions of the ISIS militants in Syria and Iraq. 

A church-going family feels themselves filled with joy and warmth as all five of them, Mom, Dad, and the kids gather round to read the letter from the child they sponsor in Ethiopia. 

We as a family of believers last week wept for a church in another states, South Carolina where there was a shooting. 

In a one of our church small group’s prayer meetings, there is mention of a friend known to only one of the group’s members, yet everyone in the group prays with deep feeling and genuine passion for that request.

            Why?  That Carrboro disciple of Jesus does not know a soul in Syria or Iraq.  He has never been out of the United States.  Why is in any way affected by what is happening in that part of the world?

            That church family has never met the Ethiopian child they help go to school with their monthly sponsorship dollars.  Why do they care so much about her?  They don’t know her.  So why do they act, seriously, as if Hyatt is a member of their family?

            I don’t know anyone in Emmanuel Church in Charleston and before June 17, I did not of the church’s existence.  What made it so natural for me to ask our church to pray for them and grieve with them? What ties us to them?

            In the prayer group, someone says, “Could we pray for my friend’s boss.  His marriage is falling apart.  His name is Chris.”  No one in the group knows Chris.  Yet the group prays.  What is going on?

            Much of the New Testament is made up of letters written by early leaders to encourage congregations that existed throughout the Mediterranean world.  Most of these letters, called epistles, were written by Paul who made several long journeys, planting churches as went from Jerusalem, through Turkey and Greece and finally all the way to Rome.  One of the churches he struggled with the most was the church in Achaia, which was in Corinth. He wrote two letters to the Corinthians.

In 1^st Corinthians 16, Paul writes, “Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia. ² On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come. ³ And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem.”

Time passes, Paul’s relationship with the Corinthian church grows tense, and he eventually writes other letters including the material we find in 2^nd Corinthians.  He wants the believers there to give money weekly.  He will pick it up and take it to provide for the needs of the poor Christians in Jerusalem.

I can imagine one or two Corinthians asking, why should we care about Jerusalem?  What is that to us?  Indeed, what is it that drives the people who find their identity in Christ to acts of kindness, prayer, and financial generosity?

In 2^nd Corinthians 8:7-8, Paul names several of the themes he’s identified previously.  He tells the Corinthians, “Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you^[d]—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.”  He mentioned faith, hope and love in 1^st Corinthians, and here again, love is of highest importance.  This time love is seen in generosity. 

On more than one occasion Jesus was asked, “What is the top commandment?”  He always gave the same answer.  , “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor, your fellow human beings as you love yourself.”  All the law and the prophets, in other words, every holy word every written in scripture hangs on how we love God and love people.

Paul builds on this foundation in Romans 12, 1^st Corinthians 13, Galatians 5 where it is the first of the fruit of the Spirit, and here.  Paul wants the Corinthians to give money – a lot of money.  The Jewish Christ followers in Jerusalem desperately need this.  But for Paul it is not just a matter of accomplishing the goal.  It is also about the growth of the Corinthians as disciples.  He wants them to be filled with joy as they give the gift.  He says in 8:8, “I am testing the genuineness of your love.”

Does Paul have the right do that?  I think this feels presumptuous and needlessly blunt.  Who does he think is?  But then, we proceed to verse 9 where we find ourselves at the heart of the matter.

 “You know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Paul reminds the church, “that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”

Jesus was rich.  Before he was born in that Bethlehem stable, Jesus existed in the joy of the trinity as God the Son, the eternal one.  He basked in the glory of God and he left that glory and took on humanity.  In Philippians Paul writes Jesus emptied himself.  He was rich – as rich as words can describe.  And he left that behind to enter the feeble poverty of human life.  This is the incarnation – God with us when God did not have to do it and we did not earn it.  This is grace.  This is the gospel story – what God has done for us in Christ.

Paul emphasizes that his action, taking poverty of sinful humanity upon himself was effective.  By his poverty – specifically meaning his death on the cross – the Corinthians and all Jesus’ followers became rich.  That is, when we are in Christ, we anticipate the abundance of Heaven.  Whatever our lives are like on earth, we know we will live in God’s luxury.  We have the promise of eternity.

Moreover, today, as we live in service to God and in the joy of God, we have the richness of relationships.  We live in the love of God and the love of neighbor.  It all comes to us by Jesus’ sacrificial acts of leaving Heaven to walk as a human and then dying on the cross to take our place in death. 

To collect money and give it to believers they had never met was not something the Corinthians did as a kind of a great spiritual accomplishment.  Nor is it so for us.  We do not sponsor children from impoverished places so we can earn Heavenly street-cred.  We do not give our money or invest our time or shed our tears or pour out our prayers to God on behalf of strangers because we want accolades.  We do not strive for goodness and righteousness so that in the eyes of God and men we are highly.  At least we not live Godly lives for those reasons, not if they followed Paul’s reasoning.

Why do we care about people we don’t know?  Why do people we will never meet in person burden our hearts and inspire to give and pray and act?  It is because of Jesus.  Generosity is a response to the riches we have received.   

The generous church is the body of Christ-followers who know that they are who they are because of what Jesus did.  We are alive, joy-filled, and bound for eternity because God loves us, Jesus died for us, and the Spirit lives in us.  We know we are a created people – a people re-created as we realize what the cross and resurrection means.

It strips away any arrogance we might conjure up.  Some in the church have done a lot in the eyes of men in terms of income, education, and social status.  But we all stand on equal footing – no matter our jobs, our titles, or other measures of status.  We join hands as people who realize our dependence on God and our love for one another. 

In verses 13-14, Paul tells his readers, “it is a question of a fair balance between ¹⁴ your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.”  In the Kingdom of God, no one goes hungry because everyone cares about everyone else.  Knowing we have been saved by grace, we strive for this mutual caring on this side of Heaven.  While waiting for the Lord’s return, in dependence on the Holy Spirit, we live into the Kingdom reality that will be ultimately fulfilled When Jesus comes.

By involving the Gentiles with the Jewish Christ-followers in Jerusalem, Paul may have imagined a fulfillment of the prophecy, Isaiah 55:5, which says, “Nations that do not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel.”

For Paul Corinth was the nation that did now know.  In giving their offering to relieve the poverty of the Jerusalem church, they were “running to” Israel to be joined to God’s people.  They did this because of the Holy One of Israel, Jesus.  In Isaiah 60:5, the prophet says the wealth of the nations shall come to Israel, the home of the people of God.  Paul envisioned the embodiment of this prophecy in the action of the Greek-speaking churches donating money to feed the hungry Jerusalem Christians.  He saw the grand narrative of God’s story playing itself out. 

Can we see at Paul saw?  Can we commit to generosity as a gratitude response to the grace we’ve been given by God in Christ?

We’re going to take communion this morning.  We’re going to take Communion by coming forward and taking the bread, Christ’s body, and the cup, his blood.  As you stand in the line, moving forward, consider Paul’s joy as he carried the collection to Jerusalem.  Ponder the hearts of the Corinthian believers as they put their contributions in for brothers in Christ they’d never meet.  Imagine this movement of money to the city as if it were the Nations streaming to Jerusalem, to God, to Christ.

Now think about that Ethiopian child who is sponsored; and the Syrian believers huddled in a refugee camp; and believers in African American churches across America, and white churches joining with them, reaching for unity in Christ.  Imagine all these in the line walking up to receive the bread and cup, the body and blood. 

See yourself, one forgiven, made new, called in Christ.  As you walk up and see your friends who have worshipped with you today, realize the hospitality of Christ who is the one that invites you to this table.  In eating and drinking, open your heart to His Spirit.  As you do this and we do this, He makes us the generous church, filled with gratitude, ready to give because we know doing so announces the grace of God.

AMEN

Extravagant Generosity

I preaching this message on February 13, 2011 at HillSong

Growing up, my parents placed three jars on my dresser and then gave me my $1 weekly allowance – in dimes. One dime went in the jar marked “tithe,” one went in the jar marked “savings,” and the remaining $.80 was mine to spend. They were trying to instill in me the habit of saving some money, and they wanted me to know on that we give money to God’s church as a way of living our Christian faith.

The amount they advised me to give was 10% of my income. Christians all over, trying to honor God with their money give 10% of the paycheck to the church.

It’s a good spiritual discipline, but a curious one as well. We follow Jesus Christ. We commune God in the Holy Spirit and in the Bible. As Christ-followers, our starting point in is the New Testament. Giving 10%, tithing, is not a New Testament concept.

When Jesus talks about the tithe, he’s in the middle of a harsh critique of the religious practice of the Pharisees (see Matthew 23:23). They faithfully give their 10%, but fail to live out the grace of God. In tithing, they are fine examples, but in reflecting God’s love, they are terrible failures.

The tithe is based on the economy and liturgy of ancient Israel. Israel was an agricultural nation. Burnt offerings were the centerpiece in worship. So, people would harvest, and then bring in the best 10% of their harvest and offer it as thanksgiving to God, as praise to God. The animal offerings served as atonement for sins.

From Deuteronomy to the days of the second temple when Jesus ministered in Israel, the idea of tithe went through dramatic change as the society changed. Money became a part of their culture. The world became more mobile and travelers from the North, South, East, and West, came to Jerusalem. The travel, the commerce, and the shift from a barter economy to one that included money all came together to force the concept of the tithe to evolve.

Jesus never says, “Thou shall tithe.” So, why do we hang on to tithing? And if tithing is not exactly the New Testament formula for honoring God with our money, then what is? What does Jesus say? What does the New Testament teach?

The following is from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 12, verse 41-44.

⁴¹He [Jesus] sat down opposite the [temple] treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴²A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. ⁴³Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. ⁴⁴For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

When the poor widow put her last coins in the temple treasury, she acknowledged that God is Lord of everything. The temple was extraordinary corrupt and she might have known that. So why give the last of her money to the temple? Whether she could articulate it or not, the widow entrusted the temple to God. God, you are Lord of this temple. You deal with the corruption here. I give all I have to you.

Furthermore, she acknowledged that God, and not her meager two coins and not her hunger, was her master. If she bought bread today with a coin, and again tomorrow with the second, she would be hungry the day after tomorrow. So, she gave it all to God trusting that God would take care of her today, tomorrow, and the day after.

To me that says that we middle class American Christians in 2011 is must count on God and not our money to provide for us. Jesus did not say because this woman deposited her final two coins, all disciples must divest themselves of all their holdings in order to be true believers. He did say her gift was blessed because of how valuable it was to her. It showed how much she trusted God.

Based on how much we make, do our gifts to God’s church and to evangelical ministries around the world show how much we (1) value God, and (2) how much we trust God? If I make $75,000, how much is my relationship with God worth if I give 5% of that $75,000 to God’s work in the world?

God doesn’t need any of my money, but, I need a relationship with God. I need it to become the person I was meant want to become. We need a relationship with God because we are made to be in relationship with Him – a relationship of trust, and forgiveness, and truth.

When we take up the morning offering, what we each put in is an indicator of the worth we put on the relationship we have with God. It makes no difference to God whether I give more than person next to me or less. It makes all the difference in how much I give related to how much I have.

Someone who gives away an amount that he doesn’t even notice missing is saying to God, you’re not worth money that matters to me. Someone who makes all his purchases and then considers the money that’s left and gives his offering out of that is not giving much. It doesn’t matter if it is $1 million. The priority for the true disciple is on the relationship with God. The way to know how much to give is to openly, honestly pray, and then give according to the Holy Spirit’s leading.

As I have talked about this most sensitive topic – money – I have talked about the relationship individual believers have with God. The New Testament doesn’t prescribe a 10% tithe, but the New Testament is full of teaching about qualities that must be present in the life of someone who is a follower of Jesus. In 1^st and 2^nd Corinthians the letter’s author, the Apostle Paul, illustrates one of the qualities.

The background for he writes here is a famine that hit Israel hard in the mid first century. Hunger spread. The Jewish people had to rely on one another to make it through this painful time. However, the Christians in Jerusalem, who were also Jews, had been cutoff from their neighbors because of their decision to follow Jesus Christ and proclaim him as Savior, Messiah, and Son of God. Because of their faith, they did not receive the help people needed to survive the period of famine. The very first Christians, the ones in the Jerusalem church, were starving.

Paul wanted the Jerusalem Church to endorse his mission to carry Gospel to gentiles throughout the Greco-Roman world. He fought for this evangelical mission his entire career. In the period of famine, he saw an opportunity. He encouraged the Philippian Christians in Macedonia and the Corinthian Christians to take up a monetary offering that he would then deliver to Jerusalem to alleviate the poverty that blanketed that church.

In doing this, he gave the new believers in the new churches an opportunity to express Christ-like generosity. Paul thought it would be good for the spiritual growth of the Corinthian Church if they gave abundantly to help the Jerusalem Church.

He was so convinced of the importance of this offering that he even challenged the Corinthians in a competitive manner. He told how the Macedonians joyfully overflowed with a wealth of generosity by giving out of extreme poverty (2 Cor 8:2). The Corinthians who read the letter knew they were quite wealthy compared to their poorer Macedonian neighbors. And Paul knew it too. He said the Corinthians would be humiliated if they failed to match and surpass the Macedonian gift (2 Cor. 9:5).

Paul was urgent in his desire to collect money for Jerusalem, but he didn’t plead. He framed his request as an opportunity. They, the Christians in Corinth, needed to give generously for the sake of their own walk with Jesus.

In Paul’s presentation we see that believers called to be extravagantly generous.

Listen to Paul’s words:

¹⁰He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; ¹²for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. ¹³Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, ¹⁴while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you.

Consider this scenario. Imagine sitting down with Jesus in a one-on-0ne session where we go through our bank statements. Sitting with Jesus, you look at the checkbook, the credit card statement, and all the other holdings. Line by line, you explain each purchase, each gift, each donation, - how each transaction reflects how much or how little you value your relationship with God. What would that session be like? Would Jesus takes joy in how much He matters in our lives? Would it be a time of shame, as it becomes clear that he is less important than clothes or a car or a vacation?

The point of this exercise is not guilt. It is to inspire all of us to put God first, but also to invite us to go deeper in relationship with Jesus. Going through the checkbook with him shows how much He desires us. Jesus wants all of us, every part of our lives. He wants to bless, and the blessing may mean an increase – more money – but for some people it will be the opposite. For some, God’s blessing comes in giving it all away.

If upon hearing, someone says, not me! I want to be one of those blessed by wealth. I want to be a Christian, but an extremely wealthy one. That response does not understand blessing or true joy at all. Giving of our money is giving of ourselves. God blesses what we give. God will not bless what we hold back.

So then, how? How do we live in extravagant New Testament generosity? I said earlier the way to determine how much we ought to give is to openly, honestly pray, and then give according to the Holy Spirit’s leading. I believe it, but I also know from my experience that God answers prayer in God’s time.

Until the answer is clear, the Old Testament standard of a 10% tithe is a proper starting point. To begin living in generosity, understand how much money you will make in a year, and give 10% of it to the church. Along with that, be involved in the church family. Know what your church believes, preaches, teaches, and practices.

Know your elder and know what the elders are working on. Know your spiritual gifts and in mission and in ministry in the church and in the community, serve where you are gifted. Use your skills and your talents and your God-given personality to be involved in the life of the church. Be involved in music ministry, youth or children, grounds beautification, leadership, and in small groups. When church becomes something you are emotionally invested in, it won’t be hard to give your time, your heart, or your money to where God is working through the church.

So, start, by giving 10% off the top to the church, and invest your life in the church.

HillSong Church is a really great place. It can be twice what it is, even three times what it is in terms of quality worship and ministry, IF twice the number of people who currently come invest themselves – heart, money, time, talent, and passion. We have passionately devoted Christ followers here who are “all in.” And we have people yawning in their faith here, spiritually asleep, showing up week after week completely unaware of God’s activity in the world. Which category do you strive to be in? Which category would you put yourself in right now and why would you put yourself there?

Start with the 10% tithe; then, increase it. Discover how God will care for you when you give what you have away. Discover the joy of giving your money and your time and your heart to orphans. Discover the blessings you will receive volunteering locally in ministry, and on mission trips and contributing to food collections and giving with abandon to special offerings.

In his book Neither Poverty nor Riches, subtitled A Biblical Theology of Possessions, Craig Blomberg promotes a graduated tithe in which one begins at a certain level and over time increases financial giving.

I knew a school teacher who did this. When his family was running out of money fast, he decided he would trust God no matter what. So, no matter what, he gave 10% to the church that year. The next year, he gave 11%. By the time I was met him, he was up to 33%. And God did provide. He was able to raise three children, own a home and retire with his needs met. Of the 33%, he gave a lot to ministries outside the church, which is great and is something I completely agree with.

One more thought on giving. We invest ourselves completely in ministry in the church. We begin our financial giving with a 10% tithe. We expand that through a graduated tithe and through extravagantly generous gifts both to the church and to ministries outside the church, and we do this out of a love response to God, as a way to participate in missions, and to advance the Kingdom.

And finally, we make all giving connected to prayer.

Giving money to God should not be thought of as some duty which I do so I can check it off a spiritual “to-do” list. Giving is to be, for Christ-followers, an expression of our worship and of our love relationship with God. It’s not that Jesus needs our money. It’s that Jesus desires us. By giving the money to causes that advance His kingdom, the money doesn’t come between Him and us. The money is not an obstacle blocking us from Christ; when we give it, money is a servant advancing the cause of Christ. We aren’t locking Him out of some area of our lives. We’re asking Him to bless us completely and asking that through our gifts, we would be privileged to be a small part of how He blesses others.

Everything I have said in this message boils down to one thing - the relationship we have with God in Jesus Christ. I can’t imagine life without Jesus in it. We can’t hear His voice of love, forgiveness, and guidance, when out money is clogging up our ears and fogging up our minds. So, we open up. We pray, and in joy and generosity, we give extravagantly. We are part of the growth of the kingdom.

AMEN